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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    General Boards    Questions or Comments  ›  Racial Topics
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  Author    Racial Topics  (currently 3357 views)
sniper
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 3:11pm Report to Moderator
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I was actually working on a short about two PI's (both white). One of them, Bobby, is the old mentor who keeps cracking black jokes. The scene I'm about to share with you picks up while Bobby and Tom (the trainee) is doing surveillance. This is how I wrote it:


Quoted Text
BOBBY
You were about to ask me something.

TOM
That’s right, um, when he comes out,
then what? We, like, take his picture
or something?

BOBBY
Take a picture? I’m gonna take a picture
of a black guy at night? What the fuck is
that picture gonna show? Eyes and teeth?

TOM
Man, that’s kinda racist.

BOBBY
Hey hey, I have nothing against black people.
I really don’t. As a matter of fact, I think we
have a black guy in the family tree.

TOM
Really?

BOBBY
Yeah. And if I’m not mistaken --
(scratches his chin)
-- he’s still hanging there.

Bobby burst out into laughter. Tom forces a smile, Bobby notice.

BOBBY
It’s a joke for Christ’s sake.

TOM
Yeah. But still, you know?

BOBBY
(waves him off)
Forget about it.

And later...

DARRYL JACKSON (40’s), black and impeccably groomed, closes the door behind him and tiptoes across the driveway towards his Toyota.

BOBBY (V.O.)
Damn. That is one black fella. He’s so
black I’ll bet he bleeds coffee.

TOM (V.O.)
Okay, the black jokes are starting to bug
me, Bobby.

BOBBY (V.O.)
I’m just bullshitting.


I dunno - sure it has a racial tone, but is still kinda funny.


Down in the hole / Jesus tries to crack a smile / Beneath another shovel load
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Zack
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 3:51pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Blakkwolfe
Here's my opinion;

As long as you don't make him a hero or set him up as messiah figure or anything, it should be OK



There racist dude is definetly a bad guy... but the black guy in the script isn't exactly a good guy.

~Zack~
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Death Monkey
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 4:01pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from sniper
I was actually working on a short about two PI's (both white). One of them, Bobby, is the old mentor who keeps cracking black jokes. The scene I'm about to share with you picks up while Bobby and Tom (the trainee) is doing surveillance. This is how I wrote it:



I dunno - sure it has a racial tone, but is still kinda funny.


It IS funny! But no doubt some people will take offense. Which makes it "controversial".  

Reminds me of that south park episode with the sports commentator who keeps making jew jokes during the football game and his colleague who tries to keep him in line on air.

"Holy cow! I haven't seen a Jew run that fast since Poland 1938!
- DUDE! That is NOT cool!"


"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."

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Death Monkey
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 4:13pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Old Time Wesley


Let's be honest here, that movie was made by Disney and to my knowledge never had any "bad" racial dialogue.

Basically the use of the word nobody dares mention is where they get touchy but like a comedian has said if they don't want us to say it they shouldn't use it so freely in public and on television.

The word in my opinion has lost it's racial meaning.

Clerks has a racial slur or two in it and American History X and both of those films were hailed widely as good films. One even was nominated for an Oscar.

I think it's the execution of the material. I remember a script on here called "Skullfuck: Battlefrogs" or something like that in which Bert hated and a bunch of people were offended by it's blatant racial dialogue (In the descriptions)

Do it right and you're fine but do it wrong and you end up being the bad guy. Remember I wrote a script with gay characters that gave Kevan an enema... that's powerful subject matter but it fits the script.


yeah, you may be right. Like you say there are plenty of films that use the N-word (God, I hate euphemisms...). Think about Huck Finn and his buddy N-word Jim?

I actually have the Battle Frogs script on my stationary, lap top and external hard drives. I think it's the single funniest thing I have EVER read in my entire life. Nothing even comes close. But I understand why people would get offended. It was racist (the author's name was Dave Hitler, so that sets the tone) mysogynist, and just plain stupid. Still...incredibly funny in places.



"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."

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Tall Tales (short)
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Murphy
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 4:25pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Old Time Wesley


Basically the use of the word nobody dares mention is where they get touchy but like a comedian has said if they don't want us to say it they shouldn't use it so freely in public and on television.


Wesley, don't take this the wrong way man but what you wrote above could be seen as being worse than writing a character who says the word, when you say "they" are you referring to black people or just people who dislike the N word in general?  

In my opinion it is never the words you use but the intent behind them, I myself do not like it being used by anyone in a hateful manner but have no issue with Samuel L Jackson using it in a friendly way. Same as sexual references, If someone verbally attacked a gay person in a bar calling him names such as faggot and queer I would be very offended by his behavior and would have no hesitation is telling him so - but I call my friends those names all the time in jest whenever they do anything that seems particularly stereotypically gay. Words are nowhere near as important as the context they are used in.

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Death Monkey
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 4:31pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Murphy


Wesley, don't take this the wrong way man but what you wrote above could be seen as being worse than writing a character who says the word, when you say "they" are you referring to black people or just people who dislike the N word in general?  

In my opinion it is never the words you use but the intent behind them, I myself do not like it being used by anyone in a hateful manner but have no issue with Samuel L Jackson using it in a friendly way. Same as sexual references, If someone verbally attacked a gay person in a bar calling him names such as faggot and queer I would be very offended by his behavior and would have no hesitation is telling him so - but I call my friends those names all the time in jest whenever they do anything that seems particularly stereotypically gay. Words are nowhere near as important as the context they are used in.



What if Ed norton used the N-word in a friendly way? I actually think the "us and them" mentality is strengthened by saying that certain words are okay for some races to say but for others. Can I use the word cracker, because I'm white?

But it's actually interesting. You didn't hesitate to write the words queer or faggot here. You use it in a sober context, but would anyone here write N-word in the same context?



"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."

The Mute (short)
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sniper
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 4:39pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Death Monkey

but would anyone here write N-word in the same context?


My nigga.

BOOM!


Down in the hole / Jesus tries to crack a smile / Beneath another shovel load
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Death Monkey
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 5:08pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from sniper


My nigga.

BOOM!


Bah! That's not the real N-word. That's what Chris Tucker calls everyone in Rush Hour.



"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."

The Mute (short)
The Pool (short)
Tall Tales (short)
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Murphy
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 5:08pm Report to Moderator
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I wondered who it was going to be!!

No Death Monkey, I am not saying that there are words that should only be used by black people or white people I think it is fine for a white person to use the word Nigga if the context it was used in was not to offend anybody. Same as my example it is fine for straight people to use names such as faggot if they are not using them in a hurtful way. But you have to be carful that people actually do understand the meaning behind your words and this is much harder to do so sometimes it is best to avoid them - this is how wars have started!

My point was that people focus on the words far too much and not on the way they are said, the actual words used are such a small aspect of any communication that he groups of people claiming to represent minority groups and gay's etc.. are totally missing the point when it comes to banning words and clambering for radio DJ's to be sacked for saying something that was meant with no malice at all. BUT this is not the same as saying "Well they use the word so why can't I?".

As someone has said your characters can be racist and/or homophobic as long as your own descriptions are not.
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Shelton
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 5:30pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Death Monkey


What if Ed Norton used the N-word in a friendly way?



Ed Norton is as black as the Ace of Spades.  That skin of his is just covered in makeup.


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"I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper." - Steve Martin
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Murphy
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 5:36pm Report to Moderator
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SOUND OF PENNY DROPPING

Now that makes a lot of sense.
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sniper
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 5:37pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Murphy
My point was that people focus on the words far too much and not on the way they are said, the actual words used are such a small aspect of any communication that he groups of people claiming to represent minority groups and gay's etc.. are totally missing the point when it comes to banning words and clambering for radio DJ's to be sacked for saying something that was meant with no malice at all.

I agree. Liberalism has its good sides sure but it's gotten to a point where everyone is so damn affraid of being viewed as a racist, homophobe, antisemitic or chauvinist that everything is being sugar coated in a fat layer of political correctness. And I think that that actually worsens the situation cos' people keep their shit bottled up out of fear that they could be viewed as controversial. It's shame cos' controversy rocks! It inspires.



Down in the hole / Jesus tries to crack a smile / Beneath another shovel load
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Death Monkey
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 5:39pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Murphy
I wondered who it was going to be!!

No Death Monkey, I am not saying that there are words that should only be used by black people or white people I think it is fine for a white person to use the word Nigga if the context it was used in was not to offend anybody. Same as my example it is fine for straight people to use names such as faggot if they are not using them in a hurtful way. But you have to be carful that people actually do understand the meaning behind your words and this is much harder to do so sometimes it is best to avoid them - this is how wars have started!

My point was that people focus on the words far too much and not on the way they are said, the actual words used are such a small aspect of any communication that he groups of people claiming to represent minority groups and gay's etc.. are totally missing the point when it comes to banning words and clambering for radio DJ's to be sacked for saying something that was meant with no malice at all. BUT this is not the same as saying "Well they use the word so why can't I?".

As someone has said your characters can be racist and/or homophobic as long as your own descriptions are not.


No, I didn't mean to imply that was your position. It was just a general observation. I agree with you completely. It's like that episode of South Park where Randy's on Wheel of Fortune and the category is "People who annoy you" and the letters are N _ GGERS. Randy, after much deliberation, exclaims "niggers" and we then see the word is actually "naggers". Anyways the point of the episode is that no matter the context, the N-word might hurt black people, and that's important to understand, but saying the N-word doesn't necessarily make you racist.



"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."

The Mute (short)
The Pool (short)
Tall Tales (short)
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Murphy
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 5:52pm Report to Moderator
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I am a huge South Park fan and I laughed my tits off the first time I saw that!, now I piss myself just watching the start of it.  My wife thought it was offensive and did not understand why I was laughing so much.

I was watching an old episode yesterday and thought about writing an episode for a laugh, someone must of had a go at that by now, anyone got one stashed away in a drawer somewhere?
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Blakkwolfe
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 6:38pm Report to Moderator
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South Park is the last bastion of free (or at least attempted) speech in the known world. It's a matter of censorship. A writer shouldn't be afraid to write something for fear of being offensive (Sometimes I write just to BE offensive...sometimes it works, other times it goes down in flames like last month's MP entry) but at the end of the day, it is still a creative, artistic pursuit and it's frustrating when that muse has to be restrained because it might offend somebody, such as the printing of a certain cartoon (with murderous consequences)...The line has been drawn, and we are no longer free.


Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently - Dove Chocolate Wrapper
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